Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed potential customers for my SAS conference papers NEARLY download them from here, and then give up at the last moment. I want to assure you all that:
You will be required to register on this site for free, if you are not already a registered member
You will have to complete a form to say where you live
You will also be sent to a Checkout page
However, you will be charged nothing, as every conference paper download has a price of £0.00!
To quote “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” by Douglas Adams: DON’T PANIC. This is written in large friendly letters!
“Platforms: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at SAS platform-dependencies on Windows, UNIX, Linux and z/OS. This paid-for app has had some of the answer text updated to include SAS 9.4 and Windows 10.
I’ve just uploaded all of my SAS-related conference papers to my blog store, and will eventually be removing them from http://www.hollandnumerics.com/SASPAPER.HTM. This will mean that only those registered for the blog will be able to access and download them. They will, of course, be free to download for registered members.
I’ve seen self-paced SAS courses for around $125 / R.7,000. My new course will be priced at £5 (about $7 / R.475) per month and details can be found here, and you’ll be able to ask me any questions you need answers to at the same time, so it will be cheaper to become a member for 12 months than register for just one self-paced course!
Course topics during the year will include:
Data Steps
PROC SQL
Macros
PROC REPORT
PROC TABULATE
Reading databases
Reading text files
ODS destinations
ODS GRAPHICS
Performance considerations
Platform differences
The first two topics from the course looking generally at SAS components have been published today:
I hadn’t noticed, but I had to update the Google Licensing part of my apps to comply with new rules for Android 5 (Lollipop), which is why ALL of my apps installed from Google Play are no longer working on Android 5+!
Please don’t panic, as I’ve uploaded new versions of the following apps to Google Play that should work now:
Data Steps: Do This in SAS?
SQL: Do This in SAS?
Graphs: Do This in SAS?
Platforms: Do This in SAS?
EG: Do This in SAS?
Macros: Do This in SAS?
Efficiency: Do This in SAS?
Studio: Do This in SAS?
I’m glad I installed CyanogenMod 12 on my old HP TouchPad recently, so I can now be certain the Android 5 users can use my apps!
I would certainly recommend installing my Graphs app sooner, rather than later, as the next time I add a new question the price will have to be increased. It can be installed now from Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Chrome Web Store, depending on your preferred platform.
“Graphs: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at generating graphs using classic SAS/GRAPH and the new ODS Graphics. I’ve added a question that looks at how an information box (graph inset) can be added to line graphs in ODS Graphics, as compared to using Annotate in SAS/GRAPH.
The latest versions of all the apps can be found here.
“EG: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at writing and running SAS programs using Enterprise Guide. This paid-for app has had some of the answer text updated, including a link to this blog.
“Macros: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at SAS macros. This paid-for app has had some of the answer text updated, including a link to this blog.
“Platforms: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at SAS platform-dependencies on Windows, UNIX, Linux and z/OS. This paid-for app has had some of the answer text updated, including a link to this blog.
“Graphs: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at generating graphs using classic SAS/GRAPH and the new ODS Graphics. This paid-for app now includes information about how to annotate stacked bar charts in ODS Graphics.
The latest versions of all the apps can be found here.
Because of the heavy traffic in London the locals complain that “you wait ages for a bus, then 2 arrive at the same time!”. I hope you don’t complain in the same way when I write two blogs posts within days of each other, but I find that this often happens when I get a little spare time to work on my apps.
Unlike in my previous post, these two apps are not in any way related to each other, apart from being named 12 and 13 in my list. Both apps can be installed from Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Chrome Web Store, depending on your preferred platform.
“Efficiency: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at how to improve SAS efficiency, whether efficiency means speed of execution, ease of maintenance, or both. This paid-for app has had some of the answer text updated.
“Studio: How Do You Do This in SAS?” looks at the installation, configuration and uses of SAS Studio and SAS University Edition. This paid-for app now includes links about the licensing limits for using SAS University Edition, along with a summary of those restrictions.
The latest versions of all the apps can be found here.
I think I’ve now worked out the difference between blogs and forums! I’m a little bit of a newbie to blogs, so please excuse my naivety. I’d been treating my blog posts as if they were forum discussions, with every comment being highlighted by the WordPress platform, but they are not really like that at all. Therefore, from now on, rather than posting comments to tell you about any app and product updates, you’ll be receiving a new blog post, and this is just such a post!
My apps are all related to each other, with the same basic underlying software, but just with different data in each one. In fact even that is not quite true, as some question topics in my apps are relevant to more than one app, so any topic updates generate new app versions for one or more apps. I use an Enterprise Guide project to organise my questions and answers, and then generate the appropriate data structures, but with the same data, for the Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Chrome Web Store versions of each app, so when each topic changes all of the affected apps are updated together.
This time I’ve updated my apps for Data Steps and SQL, and the new versions are now live in the 3 app stores. I’m also experimenting with Windows 10 Universal Apps too, but don’t hold your breath, as I’m not quite ready to release any apps in the Windows 10 Store just yet.
The latest versions of all the apps can be found here.
You have a certificate from SAS saying you can program, and you have been offered a job as a SAS programmer. Well done! So what happens now?
Hopefully your new employer will arrange for SAS training for you, and then you’ll be given a computer to run your SAS programs on. If you are lucky you’ll be in a team of SAS programmers where some are experienced enough to assist you. However, your team may only include inexperienced programmers like yourself, so how do you get answers to your questions?
Do:
(1) Research: Search Google for possible answers to your questions. This may produce links to http://support.sas.com or http://www.lexjansen.com, so try these links first.
(2) Experiment: Try out these suggestions to see which work for your situation.
(3) Discuss: Talk about these solutions with your colleagues.
Do not:
(1) Delegate: Post vague questions on forums in the hope that someone will write your program for you. You will never improve your skills by using someone else to do it for you.
(2) Break copyright: Post any company data on the web or in external emails.
(3) Reveal: Ask questions on the web which may reveal confidential information about your employers or clients. It is also recommended that you never post your email address or phone number either, because they could be used to spam you, or even to spam others looking as if you are doing it.
Once you have a working SAS program, and this may take a while to achieve, remember to re-visit it regularly with a view to improving it using knowledge you’ve gained over time. No program is ever perfect, but your aim should be to approach perfection with each amendment.
So how do you gain SAS knowledge? The SAS certification questions and answers cover only a tiny fraction of what SAS can do. The temptation is to stick to what you know, but this will never allow you to improve your SAS programming, so read the SAS blogs, SAS-related forums and SAS conference papers regularly, and then try out the new techniques to learn new stuff all the time. This should never end. I’ve been using SAS since 1981 and I’m still learning new stuff about SAS every day!
In order to determine the best way to advertise this Blog and Forums site, like all data analysts, I need to collect together some data to analyse. This is why I’ve created the poll below, so I hope you will help me by voting. Note that you will be able to vote for more than one option, so you shouldn’t have to decide between them.
Where did you hear about this Blog site?
LinkedIn: SAS Professional Forum (37%, 10 Votes)
LinkedIn: SAS Author: Philip R Holland (22%, 6 Votes)
None of these (11%, 3 Votes)
LinkedIn: SAS Freshers (7%, 2 Votes)
LinkedIn: sasCommunity (4%, 1 Votes)
LinkedIn: SAS University Edition (4%, 1 Votes)
Google+: SAS Professional Forum (4%, 1 Votes)
Twitter (4%, 1 Votes)
Email from friend or colleague (4%, 1 Votes)
Web search (4%, 1 Votes)
LinkedIn: from Pulse, from status or in another group (0%, 0 Votes)
In order to target my Blog and Forum entries appropriately for the members here, like all data analysts, I need to collect together some data to analyse. This is why I’ve created the poll below, so I hope you will help me by voting. Note that you will only be able to vote for one option, so please select carefully before voting. There is a [Vote] button above the [View Results] link that may be difficult to see, until your cursor moves over it, in some browsers.
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